Harry Kurosawa

General Sir Harry Kurosawa KG, GCB, CLE, RD, COR
Kurosawa in 1944
Nickname(s)	That Badass Rubrumian The Hunter of Communists
Born	(1910-08-18)18 August 1910 Regina, Saskatchewan, Rubrum
Died	18 February 2011(2011-02-18) (aged 100) Regina, Saskatchewan, Rubrum
Buried	Regina Heroes Memorial
Allegiance	Rubrum
Service/branch	Rubrumian Army
Years of service	1928- 1976
Rank	General
Commands held	Third Rubrumian Army Royal Regina Rifles
Battles/wars	Estharian Civil War Second Europan War Third Joyonghean-Quenminese War War of Lorican Aggression
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Honor Legion of St. Georgius Military Medal Second Europan War Victory Medal Joyonghean Honors Order of His Sovereign Highness Order of the Taegeuk Cordon for Distinguished Service Joyonghean Army Honor Medal
Relations	Murakamo Susaya (mentor) Tasaku Mitsuru (mentor and friend) Murasame Susaya (aide-de-camp and student)
Other work	Professor at the University of Saskatchewan

General Sir. Harry Kurosawa KG, GCB, CLE, RD, COR (18 August 1910 - 18 February 2011) was a Rubrumian senior officer who rose to fame for his efforts during the Estharian Civil War and in the Second Europan War under his mentor General Murakamo Susaya. Kurosawa was known for his fast deployments in the battlefield and his ability to shift into different styles of warfare, which his mentor pioneered.

Kurosawa was the son of a Rubrumian-Nihhonese officer and a Nihhonese mother. Although he grew up under his mother's care, his father got him interested in military life. Kurosawa found himself in a close relationship with his mentor, then-Captain Tasaku Mitsuru. The two shared a close bond until Kurosawa graduated in 1928. He soon found himself enlisting in the Rubrumian Army and here, he met General Susaya. He found himself under the General's close supervision when he was deployed to Esthar during the Civil War in 1932. Kurosawa showed promise when his brigade of Rubrumian volunteers managed to catch Republican troops off-guard, allowing A.C.G. Linholm''s Nationalists to push and take Teruel. He was promoted to Major as a result by Susaya himself.

He found himself in the heat of battle once again, this time during the Second Europan War, where he performed incredible feats of manoeuvres that found Allied formations overcoming Imperial forces. He continued to rise through the ranks, becoming the youngest Rubrumian General at the age of 28 after his promotion to Brigadier. He became a full General in 1943 at the age of 33, which saw him his reassignment to Joyonghea, where he was reunited with his college professor. He also met General Susaya's son, Murasame Susaya and hoped that he had his father's calibre. He put a lot of trust on the young Susaya, taking him and his friends under his wing, a nod to his mentor's role in life. His success during the Rubrumian Landings put General Douglas Tecumseh Stilwell and half of the Concordian forces to be sent to the Gangbaek Theater and endorsed General Jacob Cedric Cunningham to replace him as the commander of the Concordians that remained in the mainland.

Kurosawa later served with distinction, helping out in the Post Second Europan War Crisis of 1945 and later during the War of Lorican Aggression until his retirement in 1975 at the war's end. He returned home and became a military professor for aspiring students at the University of Saskatchewan and in the University of St. Georgius, in which one of his students was future Field Marshal Kiriya Kitagawa.

Kurosawa left a lasting legacy across many military organisations in the Commonwealth. His flexibility in warfare has been thoroughly studied in many military academies to this day. Many military historians and generals have credited him as having perfected the fast manoeuvre and Envelopment style of warfare. Associated with daring and bold movements, quirky quotes, and phrases; Kurosawa has been given the moniker of "That Badass Rubrumian" by many soldiers under his command, epitomising the typical Rubrumian soldier of the time. In addition to his honours and achievements, he is the only Allied general during EWII to have fought the major Imperial powers (East Europa, Archadia, Quenmin, Ruzhite Empire, and Guadosalam) throughout the war.

Early Life

Kurosawa was born to Brigadier Francis Kurosawa, a veteran of the Lucio-Domonokian Wars and to Nihhonese nurse Yuko Hasegawa. He is the only male and the eldest of his 5 siblings. As both eldest and brotherly figure, Kurosawa took care of his younger siblings at an early age when his father was often deployed. During the First Europan War, their father left them to as he was deployed in the Europan front, leaving him with his mother. When he was 8 years old, Kurosawa took odd jobs as a boy, often being paid to mow his neighbours' lawns and deliver newspapers every weekend. Their mother sold baked pie in front of their house to earn a living. When their father returned home in 1920 following the end of EWI, Kurosawa subsequently focused on his studies. His father often told him stories of his experience in the field and it was in these stories that made Kurosawa want to be like his father. He chose to enter the Royal Regina Military Academy at the age of 16 and here he fell under tutelage of Captain Tasaku Mitsuru.

He soon graduated after serving only 2 years in the academy thanks to his devotion to his studies and high grades. The army found his marks to be of military grade and subsequently asked his parents to enlist in the army, where he can continue his studies while training. As a result, in 1928, Kurosawa enlisted in the army while still attending the academy. Kurosawa was finally commissioned as an officer with the rank of Lieutenant in 1931. During this time, he found himself serving under General Murakamo Susaya, one of Rubrum's famous EWI commanders. When he was deployed to Esthar that following year due ot the Estharian Civil War breaking out, Kurosawa joined him and was made as his own liaison and protégé.

Military Career

Second Europan War

At the start of the Second Europan War, he served as a liaison officer to General Murakamo Susaya. At this time, he had returned from Esthar following the Estharian Civil War, which saw him contribute to the Nationalist victory. Because of the start of the war, he was unable to return to Rubrum and agreed to stay in Gallia along with General Susaya. During the early months of the war, there was a shortage of capable field officers from Rubrum and Susaya was forced to send Kurosawa to the field after being talked over by the latter that he can :"take care of himself".

Kurosawa established himself as one of Susaya's accomplished field officers, succeeding in Allied victories at Vasel and in Naggiar and delaying strong Imperial pushes during the Fouzen Counteroffensive. But it was during Operation Clubber where Kurosawa distinguished himself, being tasked with the impossible objective of preventing Imperial forces advancing into Anthold, Gallia's biggest port. Susaya had been ordered by Lucian General Harry Tachibana to prevent Anthold from falling into enemy hands, thus sending Kurosawa in charge of the defense in the port town. During the battle, elements of the Royal Regina Rifles led by Kurosawa were able to hold the vital road the the port city which enabled Susaya to continuously get supplies into the port and reinforcing Kurosawa's lines. By mid-1936, after nearly a year of defending the port city, Kurosawa's strong tactical defenses had prevented Anthold from falliing into enemy hands.

In 1938, Kurosawa was ordered by Susaya to go to Erebonia and undergo a series of tactical training, believing that Kurosawa was destined to be a true leader. He wrote a letter to Field Marshal Daidoji Kitagawa to make sure that Kurosawa would be made and be trained, being that Kitagawa could aid in Kurosawa's future successes. On his first day in Erebonia, he had immediately impressed Kitagawa after blunting an Imperial thrust to the Sutherland province of Erebonia by conducting ruse operations that were made to think that Kurosawa was attacking another line against the Imperial forces. Here, Kurosawa mastered the art of deception (a tactic which he was able to use to the fullest extent later in during his famous 1944 march in Joyonghea). He was able to fake an attack that the Imperials had believed that he was going to cross the border when all he planned for was to reduce enemy commitments to the province itself by positioning a portion of his forces near the border. For this action, he was promoted to Brigadier upon his return to Europa by General Susaya, making him the youngest Rubrumian to obtain a rank at the age of 28.

In late 1943, the Lucis War Office approached Susaya for an offer of being transferred to Asianna as the Rubrumian government had agreed to send in support for Rubrum's upcoming participation in the Joyonghean theatre. Susaya declined but instead endorsed Kurosawa for the ability, seeing as how he had already came far in his military career that it was time for Kurosawa to make his career. At that time, Kurosawa had gained recognition for several engagements in Europa, earning the praise of many Allied commanders, including Tachibana. Kurosawa had been described by Susaya as "the perfect commander for an overseas expeditionary force for Rubrum". After much pondering and with Susaya's recommendation, Kurosawa agreed to lead Rubrumian forces that will be transferred to Asianna. Susaya promoted him to a full General rank prior to his return to Rubrum for reassignment in order for Kurosawa to gain seniority over other Allied officers and to establish his credibility with other Allied leaders due to his rank.

Assignment to Asianna

With Kurosawa reassigned to lead Rubrumian forces to Asianna, it resulted him in inheriting overall senior command of the Rubrumian and Jutlandish forces under Task Force Gimle led by his mentor's son, then-Colonel Murasame Susaya. Kurosawa was eager to meet his mentor's son after he had read his feats during the Teulabia Campaign, being that the older Susaya had also tasked him to watch over his son before he returned to Rubrum months before. Kurosawa arrived in Asianna at the Sakhalin Peninsula, in which TF Gimle were involved in the Sakhalin Campaign. Not only did Kurosawa met the younger Susaya, but he also reunited with his former mentor, Col. Mitsuru. The two gentlemen shared a moment of reminiscence before he was officially introduced to the younger Susaya. Kurosawa had plans to make him his liaison and leading field commander. As a result, he promoted TF Gimle's commanders by 1 rank above. He amalgamated his formation with TF Gimle, forming the Third Rubrumian Army. By the end of 1943, Kurosawa's army had already liberated much of the Sakhalin Peninsula from Imperial control. He delegated the remainder of the objectives to the Dalmascan forces under General Wilhelm Koppel in order to send Rubrumian and Jutlandish forces to Joyonghea as planned.

By 15 January 1944, the Rubrumian-Jutlandish forces finally landed during Operation Springboard at Dongmak Beach. In just less than 5 hours, Kurosawa's forces had already established a 15km beachhead. By the end of the day, Kurosawa was only 40 kms away from Yeolcheon, 25 kms away from Incheon, and 10kms away from Gimpo. In addition, Kurosawa had achieved one of the smoothest amphibious landings (if not the most), owing to his liaison's tact decisions, and to Kurosawa's continuous landing of reinforcements coupled with coordinated naval and aerial support. This feat soon reached Allied commanders in Joyonghea, who were stunned by Kurosawa's ability. By the end of Operation Springboard, Kurosawa was only 15 kms away from Yeolcheon. Joyonghean Grand General Cheon Sang-ji and many other Allied leaders calculated that it would take around the autumn of 1944 to get to Yeolcheon but Kurosawa's involvement in the operations shortened the time frame that by the summer of that year, Kurosawa was already near the gates of Joyonghea's capital, earning Kurosawa much praise from many Allied commanders and establishing a strong fear of him within Imperial commanders.

During the Liberation of Yeolcheon, it was calculated that it would take a month before the city would fall to Allied hands, owing to the fact that Imperial forces had established several strongpoints inside and outside the city. General Cheon agreed that Kurosawa must be the one to lead the Allies into liberating Yeolcheon and Kurosawa assured that Yeolcheon would fall in a matter of days. By July 6, Rubrumian and Jutlandish forces secured nearly half of the city. Despite continued attempts to dislodge them, Kurosawa's forces were able to hold onto their positions, inflicting as much casualties to Marshal Hồ Danh Sĩ Quốc's Imperial forces that by 12 July, the city fell to the Allies, once again surpassing Allied expectations.

During the Autumn Counteroffensive, dubbed as the Last Happy Time, Kurosawa was almost absent during the operation. He made a study of Joyonghea's topography and found that liberating the entire peninsula would take almost another year because of strong Imperial presence at the Quenminese colony of Churuongchandat. Kurosawa found a way to shorten the war by conducting an operation at Eastern Joyonghea, which was seen by many Allied commanders as unimportant at that time. Kurosawa called for the services of resistance leader Jang Iseul to help him in the reconnaissance of Joyonghea's eastern seaboard and if the region can serve as a highway directly to the Quenminese colony. Kurosawa was proven right when Jang provided sufficient evidence that the colony can be invaded through the eastern seaboard with the capture of Chongjin, One of Joyonghea's ancient and most eastern city. When the failure of ZANAC and Joyonghean forces takk place at the Battle of Yangseong, Kurosawa immediately ordered all Lucis Commonwealth forces to pull back from the battle, a move which shocked both the Allies and the Imperials. This move cause a surge of confidence within the Imperial forces, as the Allies lost some of their most competent formations when this was included in Kurosawa's plans.

In actuality, they were pulled out of the field in order to recuperate and resupply in time to participate in one of Kurosawa's most ambitious operations codenamed Operation Surrogate, or famously known in history as Kurosawa's March to the North. Kurosawa was quick to capitalise on Marshal Quoc's focus during the Imperial counteroffensive that he was unable to see through Kurosawa's plans. By the time the operation commenced, it was to be too late for the Imperials to react. Marshal Quoc would later realise that Kurosawa had forced him to fight in two fronts in the Joyonghean peninsula.

Legacy

Quotes

"If there is one Allied commander that I know who had Crocker's brilliance and wits, Samegawa's ruthlessness, Cheon's calmness, and Komaki's steadfastness, it would be Kurosawa."

— Lucian Field Marshal Okita Hanamura

"There have been many generals that might have mastered the art of modern warfare. The Imperials had General Hilde Gertrud Aschelmann and Lodi Jaeger; the Erebonians had General Brian Regnitz, the Lucians had Marshal Archibald Sugiyama, and the ZANACs had General Edward Samegawa. Most certainly they were decorated commanders. But I believe that none of them have come close to mastering such an art unlike General Harry Kurosawa did."

— ERUAC historian and army officer Professor Kari Claussell, 1998

"If Kurosawa didn't see the potential of a campaign through East Joyonghea, the entire peninsula would observe an unwanted addition of years to the conflict"

— Joyonghean Grand General Cheon Sang-ji

"I uphold espionage as key to any victory as long as it is used wisely. Kurosawa remained consistent in that regard throughout the Eastern Joyonghea campaign, and it is this fact that I am immensely appreciative of. As much as he is indebted to me for my efforts, I am indebted to him for this degree of tact that helped hasten the end of the Jeongchuk War"

— Jang Iseul, Adventures and Espionage Beyond: The Experiences of a Military Officer and Spy (1984), Chapter 27

"Mr. Kurosawa might as well be my husband's long-lost and better cousin"

— Joyonghean General Chae Hwa-young